Feed table for printing presses



F. s. ENGLISH. FEED TABLE FOR PRINTING 'PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30. 1919.

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F. s. ENGLISH. FEED TABLE F OR PRINTING PRESSESI APPLICATION FILED IUNE30| 'I9I9.

1,420,084. Patented June 20, 1922.

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F. S. ENGLISH. FEED TABLE FOR PRINTING PRESSES. I

Patented June 20, 1922.

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' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1919.

F.- s. ENGLISH.

FEED TABLE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

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2 i nvemoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rann s. EneLfsH, or new Lennon, CONNECTICUT.

FEED TABLE FOR PRINTINGPRESSES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED S. ENGLIsI-I, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New London, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Tables for Printing Presses, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to feed tables for printing presses in which the sheets are fed manually or mechanically to the impression cylinder. It is a, Well known fact that the accuracy of .the register of the sheets fed to a printing press depends to a great extent upon the feed table because the latter carries the side guides which control the register of the sheets laterally and it also serves as a rest for the front feed guides. Any variation in the front edge of the feed table Will affect the registry and great difficulty has been experienced in at tempts to provide a feed table which will remain unaffected by conditions.

There are two principal factors which tend to change the condition of the feed table and affect the registry. Climatic changes cause variations in the feed table especially if the latter is made of wood, as most of them are. Climatic conditions may cause the feed table to warp or to shrink or expand and it is obvious that a very slight variation in the feed table affects the registry. Another factor is the weight of the stock or the stack of sheets which is usually placed on the feed table. The feeder usually places a supply of sheets on the feed table from which he or she takes the individual sheets and the weight of these sheets in time causes the feed table to and this affects the registry. While a change in the position of any portion of the feed table is objectionable the thing which affects the registry principally is a change in the position of the forward edge of the table or the one nearest the impression cylinder. The object of my present invention is to provide a feed table which will remain unaffected by climatiochanges and by loading of the table with stock. The forward edge of the table at least remains unaffected and therefore correct registry is obtained.

The principal feature of my invention is that the feed table is made in a plurality of sections, the forward section or the one nearest the impression cylinder having a small area relatively to the table as a" whole and Specification of Letters Patent. Patb t -d u 20 2 Application filed June so, 1919.

Serial No. 307,790.

the several sections are so mounted that there is an alr gap or gaps between them so that one does not touch the other and the several sectlons are entirely free of each other except that in one form of the invention they are mounted on common supports. The climatic effect on-the small forward section is negligible as is also the weight of the stockand if the remainder of the table should warp, shrink, expand or sag, this will have no effect on' the forward section.

Another object of my invention-isto provide a counter-balancing spring toraise the feed table and a simple lock for locking the table in its lowered position. With this an rangeinent it is only necessary to releasethe lock or latch whereupon the table rises un der the action of the counter-balancing sprmg.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved feed tongue under the forward edge of the feed table;

Other advantages will be pointed out in the detailed description hereinafter.

In the drawings forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tworevolution printing press to which my invention has been applied,some ofthe mechanism of the press being omitted,

Figure 2 is a side elevation, on a larger scale, of the feed table and parts of the press, w

Figure 3 is a plan view thereof,

Figure 4 is a side" elevation showing a modified form of myuinvention and showing the lock or latch.

Figure 5 is a side elevation showing details of construction at the forward end of the feed table.

Figure 6 is a plan view-thereof, and

Figure 7 is a detail of the feed tongue.

In Figure 1 I have-shown the frame 1. of a two revolution printing press, the bed 2, the'delivery 3, the impression cylinder 4:, the feed table bracket 5, the feed table 6 and the bracket 7 for supporting the forward end of the feed table. Except for the feed table and its support these parts are allof ordinary construction. Y

The feed table shown in Figure 1 comprises the rear section 8 which may or may not be permanently attached to the bracket 5'; the intermediate section 9 which is preferably separate from the section 8 and 1ndependently mounted, with an air gap 10 between it and the section 8; and the forward section 11 which is independent of the remainder of the table and which is of small area relatively to the table as a whole. This section 11 is mounted independently of the section 9 with an air gap 12 between them. The adjacent edges of the several sections are chamfered with the incline of the edges directed rearwardly so that the sheets will not stall against these edges. The several sections extend across the press and the construction be the same at both sides of thepress.

The sections 9, 11 are shown in Figure 1 -mounted upon common supporting arms 13 although they are otherwise independent of each other. The section 11 is provided with a top plate or covering 14. -All sections of the feed table may be made of wood, but since the forward section 11 is comparatively small it may be made of metal without increasing the weight of the table beyond practical limits. However, as this section isrelatively small'I prefer to make it of wood.

The larger sections 8 and 9 may shrink, warp or sag without in any way affecting the accurate position'of the section 11.

The supports 13 consist of metal arms mounted on a cross shaft 15 in the bracket 5 and theyrest on the bracket'7, at their forward end. There is an arm 16 on the shaft 15 which is connected with a counterbalancing spring 17 which serves to partly or wholly lift part of the feed table by swinging the supports 13 on the shaft 15 as the pivot. In the operation of feeding stock to the press the feedergenerally places a stack of sheetson the section 8 or the sections 8 and 9 and advances the sheets singly over the section 11 into contact with the feed ing conditions.

In Figures 2 and 3 Iha've shown further .details and in addition, I have shown the forward section 11 mounted on supports .WhlCh' are independent of the supports for the section 9. In this constructionthe feed of the arms 19 are depressed at 22 so that they do not even touch the table section 9.

In this construction the arms'18 rest upon the stop screws 23 mounted in the bracket 7 and the arms 19 rest upon the independent stop screws 24. Both the stop screws 23 and 24 are adjustable in order that the relation of the feed table may be regulated relatively to the cylinder according to the thickness of the stock to be fed. There are screws 25 for guiding the arms 19 and preventing lat eral displacement and these are generally adjusted when the press is first set up and require no further adjustment.

There is a cross shaft 26 carried by the arms 19 and it is adapted to be rocked by the hand lever 27. There is an arm 28' fixed to this shaft 26 and its outer end is pivoted to a link 29 which is adapted to be adjusted in length by means of the nut 30. The other end of the link 29 is pivoted to a latch 31 which slides in the socket 32 on the arm 19. The top 33 of the latch 31 is'slanted and it engages under a latch plate 34. on the bracket 7. V

When the handle 27 is in the position shown in Figure 2 the latch 31 looks under the plate 34 and it holds the feed table down in position. If the counterbalancing spring 17 is sufficiently strong to entirely raise the feed table it is only necessary to throw the handle 27 down to the position shown in Figure 4. This will withdraw the latch 31 and the feed table sections 9, 11 will be swung up by the spring 17 pivoting on the shaft 15. e

In Figures 5 and 6 I have shown handles 35 attached to the arms 13 which may be grasped to raise the feed table where this is -well known in the art. Above the grippers I have indicated the rising and falling arms 39 which carry the feed guides 40 against which the leading edge of the sheet stops to position it for thegrippers 38. When this guide40 is down it rests on the tongues 41 g which are secured to the feed table. In Figure 7 I have shown the details of this feed tongue. It consists of the member 41 which extends beyond the forwardedge of the table plate 14 and close to the surface of the cylinder 4; and of a plate 42 having a socket 43 adapted toslide endwise over the rod 44 which is attached to the plate 14. There is a readily along the rod 44 to any desired position. It will be understood that there will be duplicates of this tongue arranged along the rod 44.

In the construction wherein the several sections of the feed table are mounted on separate supports or arms there is no possibility of the forward section being afiected by any warping or sagging of the sections 8, 9, as not only the sections 11 and 9 themselves but also their supports are separated and in addition, the supports rest upon separate stop screws.

In the devices shown herein the forward portion of the feed table, which usually controls the positions of the sheet guides etc., is not affected to any appreciable degree by climatic conditions nor by sagging due to the weight of the stock on the feed table. The sections 8 and 9 may warp, shrink, expand or sag without affecting the position of the section 11. If the sections 8 and 9 expand they neither afiect each other nor the section 11 because of the air gaps between their adjacent edges.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a printing press thecombination of printing means and a feed table said feed table consisting of a plurality of independent sections, one of which sections is mounted nearest the printing means and is of small area relatively to the feed table as a whole, said sections being mounted whereby said section of small area is separated by an air gap from the remainder of the feed table.

2. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table-consisting of a plurality of independent sections, one of which sections extends crosswise of the press near the printing means and which section is of small area relatively to the feed table as a whole, said sections being mounted whereby said section of relatively small area is separated by an air gap from th remainder of the feed table.

3. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table consisting of a plurality of independent sections, a support for a plurality of said sections with which the said sections are adapted to swing into and out of operative position, one of said table sections being mounted nearest the printing means and having a small area relatively to the feed table as a whole, said sections being mounted whereby said section of relatively small area is separated by an air gap from the remainder of the feed table.

a. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table consisting of a plurality of sections, independent supports for a plurality of said sections, said sections being mounted where.- by the several sections will be separated by an air gap for the purpose set forth.

5. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table consisting of a plurality of sections one of which is mounted nearest the printing means and is of small area relatively to the feed table as a whole, and separate hinged supports on which a plurality of said sections are independently mounted whereby the said sections are separated by an air gap.

6. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table consisting of a plurality of sections, one of which is mounted nearest the printing means and is of small area relatively to the feed table as a whole separate hinged supports on which a plurality of said sections are independently mounted whereby the sections are separated by an air gap, and independent stop screws for the several hinged supports.

7. In a printing press the combination of printing means, and a feed table, said feed table comprising sheet supporting means, and a hinged support therefor, and means for locking said table in operative position, comprising a latch mounted on said hinged support, a lever and a link mounted on said hinged support for operating said latch and a latch plate with which said latch cooperates to lock said feed table.

8. In a printing press the combination of printing means, a feed table and a feed tongue therefor, comprising a tongue extending under the forward edge of said feed table, a rod on said feed table on which said feed tongue is fulcrumed, a coiled spring carried with said tongue and a plunger operated thereby and pressing against the under side of the feed table to hold said tongue pressed against the forward edge of said feed table and adapted to permit said tongue to be slid along said rod.

9. In a printing press the combination of printing means and a feed table, said feed table consisting of a plurality of independent sections, one of which sections is mounted nearestthe printing means, said sections being mounted whereby there will be an air gap between the sections.

Signed at the city and county of New London, State of Connecticut, this 19th day of May, 1919.

FRED s. ENGLISH. 

